Updated: 2005 MAY 02, 23:29 UT
Event Rank : 3
(The event Rank is a measure of the likelihood of observing an event, and is equal to the probability of at least one successful observation by a team of two observers spaced 1/8 path width just inside opposite sides of the predicted path. An event rank of 100 indicates that the prediction is expected to be very accurate).
THE UPDATED PATH
Note: The duration given in the line below is the interval during which the occultation shadow sweeps across the Earth - please see the minute markers on the map to determine the approximate time for your location.
On 2005 May 20 UT, the 1 km diameter asteroid (0) 2005 AB will occult a 10.9 mag star in the constellation Serpens for observers along a path across China, Japan, Australia.
In the case of an occultation, the combined light of the asteroid and the star will drop by 5.7 mag to 16.6 mag (the magnitude of the asteroid) for at most 0.1 seconds.
This update is based on Ondrejov astrometry for the asteroid kindly provided by Jan Manek, historical astrometry from the MPC files (via AstDys), and the following catalogs for the star position: UCAC.
Additional details of this and other events are available at Steve Preston's website at http://www.asteroidoccultation.com/
EVENT DETAILS SUMMARY :Important Note regarding Accuracy:
The uncertainty interval in path widths given above (and shown as a 1-sigma uncertainty ellipse on the plot) refers to RMS deviation and is applied as a +/- range. In other words, a path uncertainty of 1.0 path widths means that the actual center of the asteroid's shadow path should fall within plus or minus 1 path width of the plotted path center. However path errors larger than 1 sigma have been observed so observers should be alert for primary occultations within plus or minus 3 sigma of the updated path.
Further, almost all asteroidal satellites discovered so far have been found within 10 diameters of the asteroid (since this distance is deep enough within the gravitational well to be stable over long timescales). Therefore, if monitoring for secondary events, observing out to about 10 path-widths either side of the predicted track remains worthwhile.
We therefore recommend that you monitor for events if your observing location is up to +/- 10 path-widths from the predicted track. If not monitoring for occultations by secondary bodies you should observe from locations within 3 sigma of the nominal path.
In terms of time, the predictions are now usually accurate to about +/- 0.3 minute so you should be most attentive during the predicted minute of the event. However if intending to catch a potential satellite occultation you should start observing at least 10 times the predicted central duration before the predicted closest approach time for your location, and continue for a similar period afterwards.
Centre Star Star Sun Path Limits Error Limits E. Longitude Latitude U.T. Alt Az Alt Limit 1 Limit 2 Limit 3 Limit 4 o ' " o ' " h m s o o o o ' " o ' " o ' " o ' " Longitude Longitude Longitude Longitude 135 11 41 -49 0 0 13 41 58 25 23 -58 135 11 14 135 12 8 134 51 37 135 31 42 135 30 54 -48 0 0 13 41 50 26 23 -58 135 30 27 135 31 21 135 11 16 135 50 29 135 48 48 -47 0 0 13 41 42 27 23 -59 135 48 22 135 49 14 135 29 35 136 7 59 136 5 29 -46 0 0 13 41 34 28 23 -60 136 5 4 136 5 55 135 46 39 136 24 17 136 21 2 -45 0 0 13 41 26 29 23 -61 136 20 37 136 21 27 136 2 34 136 39 27 136 35 31 -44 0 0 13 41 17 30 23 -62 136 35 6 136 35 55 136 17 23 136 53 36 136 49 0 -43 0 0 13 41 8 31 23 -63 136 48 36 136 49 24 136 31 12 137 6 45 137 1 33 -42 0 0 13 40 59 32 23 -64 137 1 9 137 1 56 136 44 3 137 19 0 137 13 13 -41 0 0 13 40 50 33 23 -65 137 12 49 137 13 36 136 56 0 137 30 23 137 24 3 -40 0 0 13 40 40 34 23 -66 137 23 40 137 24 26 137 7 7 137 40 57 137 34 6 -39 0 0 13 40 30 35 23 -66 137 33 43 137 34 28 137 17 25 137 50 44 137 43 24 -38 0 0 13 40 20 35 23 -67 137 43 2 137 43 46 137 26 58 137 59 48 137 52 0 -37 0 0 13 40 10 36 23 -68 137 51 38 137 52 22 137 35 48 138 8 10 137 59 56 -36 0 0 13 39 59 37 23 -69 137 59 34 138 0 17 137 43 57 138 15 53 138 7 13 -35 0 0 13 39 48 38 24 -69 138 6 52 138 7 34 137 51 27 138 22 57 138 13 53 -34 0 0 13 39 37 39 24 -70 138 13 32 138 14 14 137 58 19 138 29 26 138 19 59 -33 0 0 13 39 26 40 24 -71 138 19 38 138 20 19 138 4 35 138 35 20 138 25 30 -32 0 0 13 39 15 41 24 -71 138 25 10 138 25 51 138 10 18 138 40 41 138 30 29 -31 0 0 13 39 3 42 25 -72 138 30 9 138 30 50 138 15 27 138 45 30 138 34 57 -30 0 0 13 38 51 43 25 -73 138 34 37 138 35 17 138 20 4 138 49 49 138 38 55 -29 0 0 13 38 39 44 26 -73 138 38 35 138 39 15 138 24 10 138 53 37 138 42 23 -28 0 0 13 38 27 45 26 -73 138 42 3 138 42 43 138 27 47 138 56 57 138 45 23 -27 0 0 13 38 14 46 26 -74 138 45 3 138 45 42 138 30 55 138 59 49 138 47 55 -26 0 0 13 38 2 47 27 -74 138 47 36 138 48 14 138 33 35 139 2 14 138 50 0 -25 0 0 13 37 49 47 27 -74 138 49 41 138 50 20 138 35 47 139 4 12 138 51 40 -24 0 0 13 37 36 48 28 -75 138 51 20 138 51 59 138 37 33 139 5 45 138 52 53 -23 0 0 13 37 23 49 29 -75 138 52 34 138 53 12 138 38 53 139 6 52 138 53 41 -22 0 0 13 37 9 50 29 -75 138 53 22 138 54 0 138 39 46 139 7 34 138 54 4 -21 0 0 13 36 56 51 30 -75 138 53 46 138 54 23 138 40 15 139 7 52 138 54 3 -20 0 0 13 36 42 52 31 -75 138 53 45 138 54 22 138 40 19 139 7 46 138 53 38 -19 0 0 13 36 28 52 31 -75 138 53 19 138 53 56 138 39 59 139 7 16 138 52 49 -18 0 0 13 36 14 53 32 -74 138 52 30 138 53 7 138 39 14 139 6 22 138 51 36 -17 0 0 13 36 0 54 33 -74 138 51 17 138 51 54 138 38 5 139 5 5 138 49 59 -16 0 0 13 35 45 55 34 -74 138 49 41 138 50 17 138 36 32 139 3 25 138 47 59 -15 0 0 13 35 31 56 35 -73 138 47 41 138 48 18 138 34 36 139 1 22 138 45 36 -14 0 0 13 35 16 56 36 -73 138 45 18 138 45 54 138 32 16 138 58 55 138 42 49 -13 0 0 13 35 2 57 37 -72 138 42 32 138 43 7 138 29 32 138 56 6 138 39 39 -12 0 0 13 34 47 58 38 -72 138 39 22 138 39 57 138 26 24 138 52 53 138 36 6 -11 0 0 13 34 32 59 39 -71 138 35 48 138 36 24 138 22 53 138 49 18 138 32 8 -10 0 0 13 34 16 59 40 -71 138 31 51 138 32 26 138 18 57 138 45 18 138 27 47 - 9 0 0 13 34 1 60 42 -70 138 27 30 138 28 5 138 14 38 138 40 56 138 23 2 - 8 0 0 13 33 46 61 43 -69 138 22 44 138 23 20 138 9 54 138 36 9 138 17 53 - 7 0 0 13 33 30 61 44 -69 138 17 35 138 18 10 138 4 45 138 30 59 138 12 19 - 6 0 0 13 33 15 62 46 -68 138 12 1 138 12 36 137 59 12 138 25 24 138 6 20 - 5 0 0 13 32 59 62 48 -67 138 6 2 138 6 37 137 53 13 138 19 25 137 59 55 - 4 0 0 13 32 43 63 49 -66 137 59 37 138 0 13 137 46 49 138 13 0 137 53 5 - 3 0 0 13 32 27 63 51 -65 137 52 47 137 53 22 137 39 58 138 6 10 137 45 48 - 2 0 0 13 32 11 64 53 -65 137 45 30 137 46 6 137 32 41 137 58 54 137 38 4 - 1 0 0 13 31 55 64 55 -64 137 37 47 137 38 22 137 24 57 137 51 11
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